Peach Bottom Unit 3 Returned to Service

10/15/2011 8:00 PM

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DELTA, PA (October 16, 2011) - Following a safe and successful refueling outage, station operators placed Peach Bottom Unit 3 back in service yesterday at 8:49 p.m. ET. During the outage, workers replaced nearly a third of the reactor's fuel and safely performed more than 15,000 inspections and maintenance activities on a variety of plant components and systems. This year, workers also upgraded Unit 3's low-pressure turbines using state-of-the art technology and implemented plant improvements to further safeguard equipment in the event of a fire or electrical disturbance.

"Thanks to the support and hospitality of our neighbors in York, Lancaster and Harford counties, Peach Bottom's fall outage was a big success," said Site Vice President, Tom Dougherty. "We completed a host of maintenance activities and equipment upgrades that will help us run the plant safely and more efficiently for many years to come."

Peach Bottom utilized the talents and expertise of more than 2,500 supplemental workers to support this year's refueling outage. Many of these workers traveled to Peach Bottom from outside the area, providing a significant boost to the local economy. During the outage, Exelon and outage workers raised $12,700 for Ronald McDonald House Charities of Central PA, located in Hershey, which serves hundreds of local families each year.

"We are incredibly grateful to Exelon for their support," said RMHC Executive Director, Kathy Denton. "Thanks to local businesses like Peach Bottom Atomic Power Station, we are able to keep families together at times of critical need."

Peach Bottom is home to two boiling water reactors that went online in 1974 and jointly produce over 2,200 megawatts of electricity, providing safe, clean and reliable power to more than two million homes. Peach Bottom and its employees are very active in the community, volunteering, hosting tours, visiting area schools, appearing at community events and financially supporting dozens of civic organizations each year.